I Do Care
by Colourful Glitter
Summary: Jane finds Lisbon in her office late at night and she's very upset. He decides to comfort her and somehow they end up going from talking about alcohol to their relationship. Jane finds out what Lisbon really thinks his feelings are and the hurt she's refused to show him. He didn't expect their relationship to become the topic of conversation when he first sat down.


**Author's Note: Another random late night inspiration for another late night random oneshot. Well, I hope you guys enjoy it. :)**

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Jane was on his way to the break room when he saw the light in Lisbon's office on. He frowned. It was nearly midnight and she was still here? Placing his teacup and saucer in the sink, he made his way over to her office. The blinds were mostly closed, obscuring his vision of what was behind her office walls. When he pushed the door open he was surprised to find her not sitting behind her desk doing paperwork, instead she was sitting on her office couch. Her elbows rested on her knees and her face was pressed into her hands with shaking shoulders accompanied by quiet sobs. She hadn't seemed to notice his intrusion. He could go back up to the attic and she wouldn't be any the wiser. He could let her take solace in the fact that-as far as she knew-no one had seen her in a weak moment. But, he didn't feel right doing that because it would require leaving her here. Alone. Crying. All he wanted to do was hug her and let her know she wasn't alone. However, just running over and hugging her seemed like an idea she wouldn't be very pleased with.

"Lisbon?"

Lisbon looked up at him, startled. "Huh?" She quickly wiped at her cheeks, turning her face away so he couldn't see her crying, even though it was too late for that. "You need something?" She didn't turn to face him when she asked.

Leave it to Lisbon to be concerned about the needs of others while she was in tears. "No. I don't need anything. I just thought I'd come see how you're doing. Are you okay, Lisbon?" Jane made his way over to her couch.

"I'm fine." Lisbon quickly replied, nodding, but still not looking at him.

Jane reached out to touch her shoulder, but she flinched away. "You don't seem fine." He told her quietly.

"Thanks for your observation. I'm sure it took some serious thought to realise that." She bit back.

"Ouch."

Lisbon took a deep breath. "Sorry. That was uncalled for. Could you please leave?"

"Why would I leave? You're upset." Jane sat down next to her.

"And that's why you should leave." Lisbon shifted away slightly.

"I want to help. We can talk about it." Jane scooted closer to her.

"Jane, stop." She turned to face him now. "Please. I don't want to talk. I just want to go to bed."

"Then why aren't you at home?"

Lisbon squeezed her eyes shut against a new wave of tears. She _really_ didn't want to talk about it. She shook her head.

"Lisbon. You can tell me. I'm not going to judge or make fun of you. And I won't think any less of you either. I'm not going to go telling everyone about this. Not a soul. Everything said is between us, I swear."

Lisbon sniffled and looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap.

"Look at me."

She didn't.

"_Teresa_. Look at me."

The use of her first name got her attention and she looked up to meet his gaze.

"I swear, this is between us. No one else will know. I just want to know what's wrong. I want to help. Please, let me help you." Jane tucked some hair behind her ear.

Lisbon looked back down at her hands.

"Lets start with why you can't go home." Jane rubbed her back, soothingly. "Did something happen there?"

Lisbon shook her head.

"Then why not?"

"I can't…I can't drive." She paused, waiting for Jane to say something, but he didn't seem to understand. "I've had too much…to drink."

"You could call a cab." None of this sounded like something Lisbon would really cry over. Be disappointed in herself, maybe, but not cry.

"I'd rather sleep here for free than go through an awkward twenty minute taxi ride that's going to cost me twenty bucks."

"That sounds reasonable. But I don't see why that would make you so upset."

Lisbon leaned forward again, elbows on knees and face in her hands. "I told you some of it. Isn't that enough?"

"Not when it's made you this upset."

"Please leave it alone."

"That's not really how I work."

"This isn't work." Lisbon said firmly. "We're not working."

Jane put a hand on each of her shoulders and pulled her back into a hug, despite her fidgeting protests. "That's not what I meant." He told her quietly. "I can't leave it alone because you're upset and I don't like it when you're upset. You being upset makes me sad and that rarely ever happens so strongly with me. I can handle you being annoyed or stressed or irritable. That happens all the time, it's not as serious. But, I can't handle seeing you like this and knowing that there's something really wrong." He ran his fingers through her hair while the other arm held her tightly. He felt Lisbon wrap her arms around him in return and bury her face in his shoulder. "I'm not the best partner in the world, Teresa. I'm sorry. I still care, though. I'm always going to care."

Lisbon hiccup-sobbed against his shoulder. "I'm scared." She whispered.

Jane pulled her away to look her in the eye. "Of what? Are you being threatened?"

Lisbon shook her head. "I'm scared of becoming like him."

"Who?"

"My father. I don't want to be some lonely drunk that can barely even take care of themselves and doesn't care about their affect on the lives of people close to them."

"Teresa." Jane breathed, holding her tightly. "That's never going to happen. I promise."

"You can't promise that."

"I can promise I wouldn't ever sit idly by and let you throw away your life. You're too important to me for that."

Lisbon pulled away and shook her head. "You'll do it if it means you get your revenge. Don't be stupid. We both know it's true."

"No, Teresa. That's not true."

Lisbon looked right at him. "What have these past years been, then? What was Vegas? It certainly wasn't you proving how highly you value me over your revenge. I understand you want revenge. I do. And I'm not asking to be more important than your revenge, but don't lie to me and tell me I am. You lie to me constantly and you go behind my back. That doesn't exactly say that I'm important to you."

Jane's stomach flopped with guilt. And they were really building a sweet moment. "T-"

"And then, of course, you cop out something that might be an apology and I forgive you like an idiot, because I hope you won't do it again. Then you just go back to what you were going before and it's just a vicious cycle. And every time it starts all over again, I hope you'll see that you can be honest with me about everything."

"Teresa-"

"Just go. This didn't help nearly as much as I thought it would. I still feel like a lonely drunk."

Jane hoped that was the alcohol talking. How did they even end up on the topic of their relationship? This had been about Lisbon being scared of becoming an alcoholic. "You're not a lonely drunk, Teresa. I _do_ value you. I've never lied to you because you're not important. I did it to try and protect you. I only go behind your back so you don't get caught up in any messes."

"It never works. I always wind up in the middle of a mess you create. You're thinking isn't even logical. I'm your supervising agent, everything you do affects me. A lot."

"Maybe. But it's not as bad as if you had been complicit in it. They'd definitely fire you if they knew you were complicit in it. I'm sorry for all the times I upset you. That's never been my intention. You're a good person. A wonderful woman. You're better than your father-"

"You never even _knew_ my father." Lisbon snapped.

"I didn't." Jane agreed, reaching out and taking one of Lisbon's hands in his own. "But I know you. You're the strongest person I've ever met. You have a team of people that care for you and want nothing more than to see you happy. We'd never let you destroy yourself like that. You're not alone, even if you felt that way by yourself in your office. If you gave Van Pelt, Rigsby or Cho a call, I'm one hundred percent sure they'd come running. I know I would. I couldn't just leave you in your office crying like this."

"Thank you." Lisbon gave him a small smile.

"You're welcome." Jane smiled back. A silent moment passed before either spoke again.

"Patrick?"

"Yes?"

Lisbon lifted her gaze to met Jane's. "What did you mean before? When you said that you loved me?"

Jane's throat went a bit dry. This hadn't been a question he'd expected to get when he first sat down. "I meant exactly that."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I think you already knew what I meant when I said it."

"I know what I thought it meant."

"And what did you think it meant?"

Lisbon thought for a moment, trying to phrase it properly. She bit her bottom lip for a moment before leaning forward and pressing her lips to Jane's.

He was shocked at her boldness. Then again, alcohol could do that to a person and he wasted no time responding.

Only a moment later, Lisbon pulled away. Jane was sure she was blushing, but the redness in her face from crying and the flush from the alcohol made it harder to tell. "Am I wrong?" She asked.

Jane shook his head. "You were very right." He captured her lips with his, entangling his fingers in her hair to pull her closer.

-Mentalist-

Lisbon felt really warm as she felt sunlight brightening the room. She felt a little queasy, but she was sure it was something coffee and a pill could fix. She shifted slightly as she opened her eyes.

"Morning." Jane murmured, opening his own eyes to look at her.

Lisbon stared at him for a moment of panicked shock. "Jane? Wha-?"

"Come on. You weren't _that_ drunk. Don't tell me you don't remember any of our conversation."

"No…I mean…What?" She thought through the cloud of sleepiness. "But that didn't…That was only a dream, right? Please tell me that was only a dream. And this is another part of it?"

"Nope."

"But that means…_I_ kissed _you_, _first_." She was definitely blushing now. "Oh, my god."

"If it makes you feel any better, I thoroughly enjoyed myself."

Lisbon smacked his shoulder. "_God_, this is so embarrassing."

"How? No one's going to be here for at least another hour. You could go home and get changed and no one would know. It's all between us. Like I promised."

"I kissed you when I was drunk. I- I can't believe I-"

"Teresa." Jane cupped her cheek with his hand, forcing her to look at him. "I know you're worried about your drinking, but you're okay. Maybe you had a bit more than you should have and you got upset about that. It's okay. You stopped yourself before it got out of hand. And you told me that you were scared, even though you probably wish I didn't know that. Don't be embarrassed about kissing me. You didn't force yourself on me. I let you. I'm glad you did. And it's not like anything else happened besides sleeping. I care about you too much to take advantage of you like that. You have nothing to worry about."

Lisbon nodded, but her blush deepened. They both sat up and Lisbon stood, stretching.

Jane followed suit. "Go home and change. I'll see you in a few hours." He placed and affectionate kiss to Lisbon's cheek and headed out of her office.

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**Author's Note: I was originally going to have Jane kiss Lisbon, but I decided I'd change it up and have Lisbon go first. Hope you all enjoyed it. Leave a review, please and thank you. :3**


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